Thanksgiving is my favorite time of the year. Yes, I love turkey and dressing and mashed potatoes but great food is not the real reason I love Thanksgiving. I love this Holiday because we take the time to remember the many people in our life who have helped us during our life’s journey. This year is going to be a special Thanksgiving for me and my family because my Mom turns 90 years young a few days before Thanksgiving. I’ve heard it said that a mother can measure her wealth by how much she is loved by her children and grandchildren…by this measure my Mom is a very wealthy woman.

Some people are simply born with skills that makes them very successful in their life’s work... my Mom was born with the skills to be a wonderful Mom. She always has time to listen and to laugh. She loves to tell stories about family. She is happy just to sit and talk. No one is a stranger to her. She is very religious without being preachy. She likes to read, watch television and talk about politics and baseball – especially the St. Louis Cardinals. She was a wonderful cook and kept a spotless house. Her values and ethics are apparent by how she lives her life. She has had to bear her share of pain and sorrow throughout her life, but her positive attitude always kept a smile on her face. However, her real strength is her ability to love unconditionally – especially family. People feel safe to talk to her because she is so loving and accepting.

I am so thankful that that I can call Aylene Roling my Mom – Happy Birthday Mom and thanks for being a hero to me and my family!

A few weeks ago my mother shared with me a letter she has saved for over 85 years. It is a letter her mother received from a small bank in Fulton, MO telling them that the bank had failed and their family had lost all of their savings. My mom can remember her mother crying when she received the letter and wondering how she was going to financially survive as a single mom with three kids.

Every day it seems we hear more bad economic news. You know we have become numb to the situation when we believe a good day is when the market only decreased by less than 100 points. While many of us with jobs, retirement savings and health insurance are being deeply affected by this current economic situation, think about those people without jobs, or savings or health insurance. These folks and their families are reluctantly turning to nonprofit agencies to provide food and other living essentials to make ends meet. I am told that area food banks, health related agencies and other social service organizations are seeing record spikes in people asking for services.

For those of us who still have jobs and health insurance, it is time for us to step up our personal contributions to nonprofit agencies that provide services to the needy. It is time for our elected leaders to start paying more attention to the needs of folks who live on Main Street and put an end to the greed that has permeated Wall Street for too many years.